The allure of ranching life has all too easily been glamorized by recent shows like Yellowstone, so much so in places like Montana, locals who live there call it the “Yellowstone effect.” Travelers have been sold the fantasy about experiencing life on a ranch — riding horses off into the sunset, sipping coffee by the fire, and sleeping under the stars. And while this romanticized lifestyle has caught the attention of even the most sophisticated city slickers, it is a hard life and one that is, for many, still worth fighting for.
Ranching is a way of life. It’s a life that isn’t meant for everyone, but for the few that have dedicated their life to it, the rewards can be huge and the losses even greater. In Colorado, ranching is deeply rooted in its history, dating back to the mid-1800s when Texas cattle ranchers made their way west for more land — Denver serving as the “cow town” hub with the completion of the Denver Union Stock Yard Exchange building in 1898.
Today, there are few places left in Colorado where you can still experience and witness the “ranch life.” As our state continues to expand, much of what used to be large sprawling ranches set against the mountainside, are being sold to developers to cater to the state’s growing population. But there’s one mountain community in Colorado that is sticking to its ranching roots.
In the Wet Mountain Valley town of Westcliffe, the night sky is filled with a blanket of stars, anchored by the shadows of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains — and the land, a patchwork of ranches where cowboys still roam. Spanning eight miles wide and 16 miles long, the valley is home to mostly ranchers and farmers who are working day and night to preserve their way of life by banning together to protect their land and sharing with visitors how they can experience ranch life in Colorado.
Preserving a Ranching Community
Many residents of Westcliffe and the Wet Mountain Valley have come together to enact conservation easements in the hopes of preserving what’s left of cherished open space and thus sustaining a ranching community. Strict zoning and encouraged conservation easements in the pastoral valley, are designed to streamline population surges and major development with the partnership of agriculture.
Despite slight resistance from some generational ranches that have been in the valley for over 100 years, many ranchers have come together to help preserve much of the Westcliffe ranching community.
Sara Shields, co-owner of the Centennial San Isabel Ranch with her husband, Mike and who’s great grandfather immigrated to this valley from England, is one rancher who realizes the past 30 years of changing times for agriculture. Living in the original log cabin of her great-grandfather, Shields is connected every day to her family’s ranching history and plans to continue its legacy.
“My dad could see the growth and development that was going to hit this valley,” says Shields. “So, he and some other thought leaders, long before zoning was ever a method of land management, implemented visionary zoning initiatives that stated the valley floor parcels of land shouldn’t be smaller than 160 acres in hopes to ensure long-term protection of the aquifer that supported all residents.”
Shields went on to say her father recognized that the water source for the entire valley is on this valley floor, feeding everything around it. “We have a moral obligation to provide for those long-term who are living here,” Shields says her dad would say. “And if we over-develop we will tap our natural resources to the point where we can’t provide for the people.”
But other ranchers didn’t agree and felt like those land segments didn’t allow ranchers to make as much money as possible off their own private land. So they compromised to an 80-acre zone.
“While the 80-acre placement has been a huge blessing that has allowed this valley to sustain much of its land, it has taken the partnership of conservation easements as well to keep our ranching community intact,” says Shields.
“I know I could possibly make more money sub-dividing my land and selling off my water, but the long-term good for the valley and the community is to make this commitment and say I will never sub-divide any smaller than we are right now.”
Another family ranch in the valley is also making a similar commitment. Sudzy Benesch, a childhood friend of Shields, lives part-time on a seventh-generation family ranch with her mother, Wildra Walker Ruzanski. The family ranch that borders their home is under a conservation easement. “We decided as a family to keep everything. We could have all been millionaires but we made the choice to stay and keep the ranch and land,” says Benesch.
Ruzanski, a real-life cowgirl herself, reminisced about how she would ride through the mountains on her horse but understands the modern changes coming to the valley. “It looks like a dang city out there now. It drives me crazy. But I’m smart enough to realize things change,” Ruzanski says.
Benesch said it could be seen as devaluing the land with the conservation easements but Ruzanski disagrees. “I think it adds value to the land. It’ll be worth more because open land like this will be a rare thing to come across these days.”
There are nearly 50,000 acres in the valley that are conserved and will stay whole thanks to that personal commitment. And because of these efforts, visitors are able to get a taste of the ranch life in Colorado.
How To Experience Ranch Life in Colorado
Visit Beckwith Ranch
To get a better understanding of the ranching history of the area, start your experience with a visit to the historic Beckwith Ranch. Aside from it being one of the most photographed places in Colorado, it is also one steeped in ranching history. Located just outside of town, along HWY 69, the historic ranch still stands in all its beauty and sturdy stature as what used to be one of the largest cattle ranches in Colorado. In their heyday, they had 8,800 acres and 7,000 head of cattle.
Today, 3.85 acres of the original ranch are preserved and maintained by a non-profit, Friends of Beckwith Ranch. The ranch as it stands today is about 4,000 acres and still houses the original, dairy barn, main house, tack barn, horse barn, workshop and several other structures. They are open year-round for self-guided tours and guided tours are offered daily in the summer. Tours are free to the public, and donations are appreciated.
Amish Sunset Wagon Ride at Sunset Ranch
The Wet Mountain Valley is best known for its staggering views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, its dark sky communities and beautiful sunsets. But many don’t know it is also home to a large Amish community. There are nearly 100 Amish families in the valley, one of which opens their home to the public to experience an Amish homestead.
Sunset Ranch, run by Freeman Miller and his wife and their four children (3 daughters and a son), rests on 40 acres perched high above the valley in the neighboring town of Silver Cliff. Here the main mode of transportation for the family is their carriage and horse and buggy. And for visitors, they too can experience what it’s like traveling by way of horse and buggy with one of their Amish sunset wagon rides.
Ride off into the sunset as the Miller family leads you on an unforgettable experience where with the magic of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in full view. It is truly one of the more unique experiences you’ll find in Colorado.
Willow Wind Farm
Annie Hunt, the owner of Willow Wind Farm runs a one-woman show at her alpaca and fiber farm. While not a working ranch, Willow Winds is a working farm that focuses on a sustainable lifestyle and products. Hunt represents a new wave of farm owners who are focused on living a sustainable lifestyle on a farm.
Hunt set out to grow her own food (soap, lotion and hair care), support a tiny goat herd for milk, cheese and personal care products (soap, lotion and hair care), and be a natural source of fiber and fiber-related products.
Her love of fibers is what quickly became the focus after being introduced to alpacas soon after she arrived at the farm. She spent three years learning about these animals and is now the proud owner of a herd of the best “grey producing” herdsires alpacas.
Now almost eight years into the farm adventure, alpacas and fine wool sheep are Hunt’s focus on her 85-acre farm in Westcliffe. Shop their artisanal alpaca yarn, knit and woven throws, soaps and more at Willow Wind Goods. Hunt loves to share her lifestyle and beautiful herd of alpacas with others. The farm is open to visitors — by appointment only.
Music Meadows
For the best way to experience ranch life in Colorado, spend a few days at Music Meadows Ranch. Not your ordinary dude ranch, “It’s much more of a working ranch vacation,” says Elin Parker Ganschow, owner of Music Meadows Ranch in Westcliffe.
If there is one thing you’ll come to learn staying at Music Meadows, is that there is nothing simple about this life. In just 12 hours, Ganschow makes lunch, prepares the horses, repairs the bandages of two sick animals, tends to her water irrigation system, helps move some hay, attends a water irrigation committee in town and amongst all that runs a business. “You have to have a side hustle to afford to ranch,” says Ganschow. “From where I sit, ranchers are the most innovative entrepreneurs because they have to be.”
Innovative indeed. As with many ranches in the area, Music Meadsow had to find new income streams deciding to offer ranch experiences for guests in 1995. So, what used to be a typical commercial, cattle ranch and summer home, is now a premier guest ranch, along with the commercial cattle ranch and grass-finished beef operation for direct-to-consumer sales of beef through Sangres Best, which you get to sample as guests.
These ranch stays are one of the best ways to experience ranch life in Colorado. Choose from overnight ranch stays, a day on the ranch experience, horseback riding lessons and the full experience for an entire week’s stay. This ultimate experience includes cowboying with real ranchers, accomplishing real and necessary cattle handling and horsemanship challenges, campfires, star gazing, trout fishing and more. All-inclusive ranch stays are available all year round.
To learn more about Westcliffe and how you can experience ranch life in Colorado visit them at visitwetmountainvalley.com.